DEVELOPING RESILIENCE TO TROPICAL CYCLONES – THE MAURITIUS EXPERIENCE by L. Chang-Ko

EXTENDEDABSTRACT – Oral Presentation

1.0TROPICAL CYCLONES IN MAURITIUS – An Overview

Tropical cyclones are the most destructive of all meteorological phenomena affecting Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique and other countries in the region. Whilst thunderstorms and floods are more disastrousin most countries of the region, Mauritius on the other hand is more often swept by strong cyclone winds which are sometimes accelerated by the fairly smooth slopes which surround the central plateau.

Throughout its history Mauritius has been either suffering or recovering from economic setbacks due to cyclones. After a violent cyclone in 1786, an influential administrator wrote that if such a cyclone visited Mauritius every thirty years, it would suffice to discourage people from inhabiting the island. But the island proved otherwise hospitable. The inhabitants gradually adapted themselves to its climate and learned to live with cyclones. (Padya, 1984).

A cyclone is a major economic disaster from which it takes years of hard work to recover. Damage to infrastructure can be widespread in cyclones. The electricity supply is disrupted and it can take weeks to put it back into full operation. Telephone lines and poles are broken and this again involves a considerable expenditure for its repair. Road surfaces are washed away. Water pipes bursts and the people could be without treated water supply for several months result in the spread of communicable diseases like dysentery (IPCC, SAR 1995).

2.0History of Cyclonic Events and Early Warning in Mauritius

1892, 29th April: The cyclone struck the island by surprise. Pressure reading at 947 millibars (h.pa) and wind 83 knots (highest mean-hourly, approximately 155 k.p.h.). Casualties include more than 1100 deaths, including hundreds buried alive when sugar factory collapsed. The day before a meteorologist had informed the acting Governor General, Sir Henry Jerningham, that the bad weather was not posing any danger to the island (L’Express 28 April 1985).

1960, 28 February 1960: Carol: Central pressure 943 h.pa, maximum sustained wind of 297 K.p.h. (Pamplemousses). Only a few weeks earlier, 19 January, the centre of cyclone Alix passed 65 km to the East of Port Louis and had shaken the island quite a bit, but it was Carol, the most violent cyclone ever registered in Mauritius, which resulted in 41 deaths, 100,000 homeless, of which 68,000 had to seek shelter in the schools. 40,000 homes were destroyed plus hundred others damaged. Most sugar factories were damaged and 60% of the plantations were lost. It was estimated that the total cost of all losses amounted to more than Rs 450,000,000 (about 34,000,000 UK pounds those days).

Status of Early Warning in 1960:Carol marks a new era in the history of cyclone disaster prevention and preparedness in Mauritius. It was that same year that the Mauritians started to give names to cyclones. Why feminine? Certainly not because they are more problematic to men! But the naming of cyclones was already being practised in the Caribbean, though the names were masculine. Anyway it became easier to refer to and identify the cyclone instead of referring to the year and dates.

Carol was already a named cyclone since the 20th February, when it was just a perturbation south of Diego Garcia. On 21st it intensified to a severe tropical depression and threatens Redrigues, but changes course and made a direct hit on St. Brandon on the 26th. and the eye went through the middle of Mauritius on the 28th. By then whenever a cyclone was threatening Mauritius, the Meteorological Department would inform the authorities and warnings were issued over the radio. Also a police vehicle will go round sounding sirens. It is worth noting the effectiveness of the early warning for Carole when we compare the number of deaths to 1892, though the cyclone was about the same strength. Still in 1960 many people who were too poor to afford a radio were also living in dwellings not made to resist the cyclones.

Aftermath of Carol

28 February, it seems, is a day destined for cyclones for Mauritius: 1760, 1807, 1818, 1850, 1960, 1962, 1964, .It was then that Mauritians came to realise that they can expect a cyclone like Carol about every fifteen years or so. The movement for independence had started with the formation of political parties. One local politician, in a letter to a newspaper on 09 March requested the colonial administrator for the establishment of a cyclone committee. Temporary shelters were erected at the schools. It was decided that something had to be done to mitigate future cyclone disasters.

Cyclone Carol was the beginning of a new era as regards to disaster prevention and preparedness in Mauritius. The old colonial style architecture was to be replaced with concrete infrastructure. The colonial administration, under the pressure of local politicians was forced to seek overseas funding for adequate housing for working class and it had to be something permanent, not to be blown away by the next cyclone. So the housing estates “cités” were built with concrete houses, cyclone-proof, but affordable, especially for the poorer section of the population. The building of “cités” has been the most effective disaster prevention ever adopted in Mauritius as will be demonstrated with the casualty figures of future cyclones (L’Express 24 Feb. 1985, The Nation ,28 Feb 1985).

Following cyclone Carol, the Meteorological Department introduced the different classes of warning as explained below. For each class of the warning, the corresponding number of red flags is hoisted over public buildings. Also, there are regular cyclone warning bulletins, in all the local languages, being issued over the radio and TV. The classification is as follows:

Class I:Issued 36 to 48 hours before the advent of cyclonic conditions. Normally repeated, every three hours. The public is requested to be prepared to take precautions.

Class II:Issued so as to allow, as far as practicable, 12 hours of daylight before the occurrence of gusts of 120 kilometres (km) per hour. Everyone should start taking precaution. There is no school, as most schools are converted to shelters during cyclones. Warnings are issued every hour. It is recommended that the TV-masts are pulled down Families should ensure there is adequate supply of water, canned foods, candles, batteries for flash-light and radios and all other essential items.

Class III:Issued so as to allow, as far as practicable, 6 hours of daylight before the occurrence of gusts of 120 km per hour. All non-essential services are stopped and people must go home or if they do not have appropriate houses, shelters are ready to take them. There is usually interruption in water and electricity supply whenever there is an intense cyclone affecting the island.

Class IV:Issued when gusts of 120 km per hour have been recorded and are expected to continue to occur.

Termination: Issued when there is no longer any appreciable danger of gusts exceeding 120 km per hour ( personal contact with the meteorological Services).

1975, 05-07 February: Gervaise: Central pressure 980.9 h.pa; Wind speed 280 K.p.h. 9 deaths, 59 wounded, 11,320 houses damaged, 1500 homeless. A cursory glance at statistics proves the structural measures taken by government with lessons learned from earlier cyclones have demonstrated their effectiveness. The concrete houses of the “cités” had passed the test and withstood Gervaise, which was about as intense as Carol.

Status of Early Warnings:

In 1975, most families could afford a transistor radio. They were able to heed to the warnings issued, and take all necessary precautions. Furthermore, there had been some major improvement with the technology being used at meteorological services. However, there was one major setback. Just when the cyclone was ravaging the island, all communications with meteorological services were cut-off. (Le Mauricien, 10 Feb. 1975)

1994 09-11 February, Hollanda:Central pressure 984.0 h.pa., wind: 216 K.p.h.;

Only two old persons dead when a banyan tree fell over their house; 1,084 took refuge in 34 centres (Week-End 13 January 1975).

2002 20-22 January. Dina: Central Pressure 988.3 h.pa, Wind 278 k.p.h. Only three deaths, two of which were road accidents, after class III warning was issued. Most of the damages were in agriculture. As usual, there was no electricity for a few days, and some places were also without water. Though Dina was as strong as Carol and Gervaise, the damage in terms of human lives and infrastructure was minimal which prove that the population has become resilient.

Lessons learned:

Developing resilience requires an informed public that knows what to do and does not panic when anticipated cyclones or storm surge flooding are predicted.

  • The Government have posterswhich tell what supplies a domestic household should stock, and how to board up windows and make preparations for an oncoming cyclone;
  • At the beginning of each cyclone seasonthereiswidemedia publicity reminding the public to ensure public awareness on the need to mitigate disastersassociated with tropicalcyclones.

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